Fourteen-year-old student opens fire with hunting rifle at French school, wounding two

A supervisor at Joseph Lakanal College disarmed the 14-year-old before police arrived, Aubagne mayor Jean-Pierre Squillari told reporters.

A French middle-school pupil shot and wounded a headteacher and a female staff member with a hunting rifle at a school near Marseille on Monday, the local mayor said.

A supervisor at Joseph Lakanal college disarmed the 14-year-old before police arrived, Aubagne mayor Jean-Pierre Squillari told reporters. Both victims were hospitalized, but neither suffered life-threatening injuries, he added.

BFM TV said the 14-year-old pupil had entered the school with the rifle hidden in a guitar case.

"It's a kid who goes to that school. He entered with a rifle; the investigation will determine how, and fired twice in a corridor toward the principal and a teacher," Squillari said.

There was no immediate indication that the shooting was linked to a three-week wave of protests, some violent, that have rocked high schools across the country. President Emmanuel Macron condemned those incidents of violence on Monday.

Student protests roiling through France, unknown if shooting connected

Student protests broke out throughout France in late September, with violent riots disrupting over 700 secondary schools and leading to thousands of arrests across France. 

Reportedly peaceful blockades in Paris broke out after the protests escalated into a major public order crisis for the Macron government.